Joe Maddon said the decision on Bell over Lueke, was because they still fell Lueke has considerable upside. As of now, there’s been no discussion of moving Karns into rotation, so this could be a one-day stay. The addition of Karns help protect against a short start by Erik Bedard, or the possibility of an extra innings game.

Erik Bedard will attempt to put together a good start against the Yankees, while the Rays look to make CC look like, well… CC in the series finale. A win would give the Rays a respectable 5-5 record on this road trip, and their second consecutive series win. You can read about the match-up in our series preview.

The Rays are 4-5 on their current road trip, and have blown 10 leads. The 41 innings are the most for three days; the pitchers have thrown 741 pitches over the last three days

James Loney is congratulated by Ben Zobrist after scoring a run in the second inning against the New York Yankees. (Photo courtesy of Elsa/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays walked out of the Mall of America, urm… New Yankee Stadium Saturday with their first loss of May. The Yankees came from behind to beat the Rays by a score of 9-3, after Jake Odorizzi, in not so surprising fashion, couldn’t make it past the fifth inning, while the tandem of Heath Bell and Josh Lueke practically handed the Evil Empire a six run lead. Hey, at least they’re 3-1 in May, right?

I’m pretty sure I’m not the first to ask this, but did anyone really think Tampa Bay would beat Masahiro Tanaka… At least in this, their first go around against the wonder kid?That they were able to tag him for two homers almost seems like a miracle in and of itself. I say almost, because opposing hitters have tagged Tanaka with a +.300 BA in their first at-bats, while he’s come back to post a sub .200 OBA in the second and third times through the order. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I cannot wait for Sunday’s contest with Bedard on the mound, if only to see if he can improve upon his last start.

I’m going to do something a little different. Instead of a game recap, I’ve decided to compare of the first month of play this season, with that of the season prior. Some things are pleasantly surprising, while others are par for the course — especially considering the state of the pitching staff.

Of note: this is obviously a pretty general breakdown of the season thus far. My intent is to continue putting pieces like this together as the season progresses.

The pitching (starters and relievers) in the first month of play this season, compared with the first month of play last season.

Starting with the pitching, all of the numbers you’d assume would have increased, have — that is, with the exceptions of the relievers’ combined batting average against, BABIP, fly-ball percentage, home run/fly-ball percentage, and walks per nine innings. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised home run percentage is down across the board — especially since the Rays have relinquished 19 more runs this season. However, the starters’ increased BABIP, fly-ball percentage, and walks per nine innings, along with a decreased left on base percentage, and strikeouts per nine innings speaks to the increase in runs. It’s safe to say the injured (beleaguered, and somewhat impaired) starting rotation, paired with their inability to pitch deeply in games, is having a drastic effect on the entire team.

Heath Bell (DAF’d as of 5/4/14) and Josh Lueke were never meant to be innings eaters, they were slated to be match-up pitchers, while Cesar Ramos and Brandon Gomes were the presumed long relievers; tasked with cleaning up the starters’ messes. This isn’t a knock on Ramos by any means. However, Maddon has had to rely more on the pen, especially since there’s one less quality arm among the relievers.

Whatever the case, one roster move to bolster the pitching staff with a fresh arm (the addition of Nate Karns to the ‘pen) may not be enough. Because of it, the onus is still on the the staff to step up to the challenge, and stop the bleeding. Joe Maddon mentioned as much, tweeting, “…We just need more length out of our starters.” To an extent that’s true, especially when talking about Ramos and Bedard. However, it’s not a question of “length” with Odorizzi, it’s a question of whether he’s able to make adjustments the second and third time through the order or not. If he’s going to be in the rotation for the long haul (again, there’s no reason to believe otherwise), however long that may be, those adjustments need to be made; lest we’re left with an outcome like that of Saturday’s game.

Offensive production in the first month of play this season, compared with the first month of play last season.

While the pitching staff has underperformed, the 2014 offense has outperformed that of 2013 model — and that’s even taking a slight decrease in power production into consideration. The Rays have hit five fewer homers, however they’ve hit 19 more doubles. Ben Zobrist, James Loney, Matt Joyce, Evan Longoria, and Desmond Jennings have carried the team, while the addition of Ryan Hanigan, and the recent hot hitting of Sean Rodriguez have bolstered the lineup over the last two weeks or so. What’s more, David DeJesus, Yunel Escobar, and Wil Myers seem to be slipping out of their funk, and none too soon.

However, their propensity to ground into double plays (25 in 2014 vs. 17 in 2013), and the inconsistent run production are worrisome. It’s well and great that Tampa Bay has averaged more than four runs per game in the first month of the season. Yet, that average is predicated on the 15 times Tampa Bay scored four or more runs in any given game. Of those 15 games, they scored more than five runs nine times. That is, the Rays are scoring a serviceable number of runs only half the time. If Longo and company can’t score four or more runs at any given time, they’re putting themselves at huge disadvantage. Mind you, seven of their first month losses came by three runs or fewer — losses that shouldn’t have been.

If the Rays hope to go at least .500 until Alex Cobb returns from the DL, the offense needs to continue carrying the team. I’d imagine that Ramos and Bedard will continue to progress in the injury filled interim. Sure, we’re a month past Spring Training, and they should be properly stretched out by now. On the contrary, they weren’t stretched out, yet the two of them have shown continual growth, especially Ramos. His ERA continues to drop, and if his excellent high leverage outing Saturday is indicative of anything, it’s that he’s ready for, and capable of handling the task set before him. Dare I say it, he’s proving his worth as the fifth starter when Jeremy Hellickson and Alex Cobb return. Now, if only he and Bedard could work deeper into games.

Hail Cesar! Ramos picked up his first victory as a starter with tonight’s shutout effort for the Rays. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

Many have suggested that Cesar Ramos is not fit for the starting rotation. I’d imagine some of you reading this might be one of those who may feel this way. I, on the other hand, feel as though he got the short end of the stick coming out of Spring Training — a feeling that’s bolstered every time he’s taken the mound since. Sure… He flubbed his first start of the season against the Reds. Since however, he’s tossed 10 innings of one run ball, including his impressive start Saturday night against the White Sox. Ramos put together an efficient 5 IP/4 H/0 R/2 BB/0 K/65 pitches (39 strikes, 60% K/BB)/9 GO/6 FO outing, in the Rays three-game, skid-ending, 4-0 win against the White Sox.

Having grown from his outing against the Reds, while improving on his outing against the Yankees, Ramos pounded the outer and lower reaches of the zone Saturday night, inducing his fair share of weak contact off the bats of the mightily productive White Sox hitters. He was able to work through a pair of high leverage innings, and came out unscathed. Ramos pitched around a leadoff double in the third inning, and got out of a bases loaded situation in the fifth — all the while, preserving the shutout.

The Third Inning

Gordon Beckham led off the third by hitting one of the only hard hit balls of the night; shooting a laser of a liner to right field. Wil Myers quickly fielded the play and returned the ball to Yunel Escobar as Beckham slid into second. Escobar had a chance to tag him before Beckham got to the bag, but he could not handle what was a pretty good throw from Myers. Beckham was safe at second with no outs. Adrian Nieto came to the plate with the Sox threatening, and promptly grounded out to second — moving Beckham to third with only one out. Adam Eaton was next, but he hit a comebacker to Ramos, keeping Beckham at third. Finally, he got Marcus Semien to line out to Longoria, consequently stranding Beckham at third.

Ramos ran into trouble once more in the bottom of the fifth, and he again worked through the jam.

The Fifth Inning

The Rays lefty yielded a leadoff walk to Alejandro De Aza, who moved to second on a base hit by Beckham. With two on and no outs, Nieto hit a sacrifice back to Ramos — giving the Rays an out, but moving the runners to second and third. Ramos, again, got Eaton to hit a comebacker to the mound. Ramos calmly looked De Aza back to third, before firing the ball to James Loney to put away the White Sox’s speedy center fielder for the second out of the inning. With two outs, Ramos walked Semien, bringing a very dangerous Jose Abreu to the plate with the bases loaded. We all know how this could have ended. Instead, Ramos got Abreu to end the inning by grounding out to Evan Longoria, who fired the ball — on a hop — to Loney.

Ramos departed after allowing a leadoff single to Dayan Viciedo in the sixth, giving way to Brandon Gomes. But why pull Ramos when he’d done so well? Konerko was one of the only opposing hitters to put together a pair of good at-bats against Ramos. With the leadoff runner on first, a sharply hit base hit off the bat of Konerko, could have scored Viciedo from first. It made sense to pull Ramos after only 65 pitches, which gave him the opportunity to leave the game on somewhat of a high note. It could also be argued that he’s not fully stretched out yet. Maddon let Ramos throw 15 more pitches this time around, and I’d imagine he’d be allowed to throw 80 pitches (or so) in his next start, five days from now.

Gomes needed just four pitches to get a double play ball from Paul Konerko, and a fly ball out from Alexis Ramirez. He went on to throw two more superb innings of no hit, no walk ball — striking out one along the way. Juan Carlos Oviedo came out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With spotty command, Oviedo gave up a leadoff walk to Viciedo. Grant Balfour got started tossing the ball pen just in case. But the Rays righty got Konerko swinging (…swatting?) at a filthy change-up, while Viciedo moved to second on defensive indifference. With one out and a runner in scoring position, Ramirez fouled out to first for the second out of the inning. Viciedo moved to third on a wild pitch thrown by Oviedo, before De Aza grounded out to second, finishing the shutout for the Rays. Oviedo has a lot of movement on his pitches, and I’d imagine his fastball command will come around sooner than later.

The Rays’ scoring looked a little something like this:

(Screen shot, courtesy of ESPN)

The New What Next

The bullpen preserver himself, David Price, will take on White Sox prospect Scott Carroll, who will be making his Major League debut. It’s widely predicted Monday’s game could be rained out. If so, a win today would be the Rays first road series win of the season.

Marc Topkin writes, “Got to wonder, the way things have been going, if the Rays won’t soon consider expanding to an eight-man bullpen to add depth and flexibility (and maybe a second lefty). That would mean going to a three-man bench and either cutting loose OF Brandon Guyer (who rarely plays anyway) or sending down INF Logan Forsythe or, less likely, INF Sean Rodriguez.”

Topkin went on to say, “Given RHP Josh Lueke‘s repeated failures in high-leverage situations at the big-league level, at what point does the Rays’ patience evolve into stubbornness?”

RHP Jeremy Hellickson is scheduled to throw off the mound today at the Trop for the first time since elbow surgery.

The Rays came from behind to beat the Yankees in grand fashion Friday night, beating up on the Bronx Bombers by a score of 11-5 in front of 26,079 fans at Tropicana Field.

The Rays came from behind to beat the New York Yankees in grand fashion Friday night, beating up on the Bronx Bombers by a score of 11-5 in front of 26,079 fans at Tropicana Field. The Rays put a halt to their four game skid, while the offense reasserted itself. Since I live blogged the game from section 143, the following recap will be of the game peripherals sort. You can read our blow-by-blow account of the game at our Tumblr page.

Game Peripherals

First, it’s not easy to quantify emotions. Besides, I’m no mathematician and I’d rather spend the time dealing with those emotions, rather than assigning an algorithm to them. If I may, the leverage index graph (below, provided by Fangraphs) accurately depicts my emotional state throughout the course of the (almost) four-hour contest.

This Fangaphs generated graph accurately depicts my emotional state throughout the course of the (almost) four-hour contest.

Erik Bedard entered the game with a meager task lingering on his shoulders: keep the Rays in the game. He did well in the first, third, and (most of) fourth innings. However, he was tagged for four runs (all earned) in the second — an inning which spelled his fate. Brian McCann led off the inning with a single to center. YangervisSolarte followed with a single of his own, moving McCann to second. Former Ray Kelly Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice to first, moving the runners up, and bringing Scott Sizemore to the plate. With only one out and danger looming, Sizemore cleared the bases with a hard hit, three RBI double to center. Ichiro Suzuki was next, reaching on a contentious bunt single to third. Despite being called out initially, Girardi came out to dispute the call and the play was overturned, putting runners on the corners with only one out. Brett Gardner reached on the second botched fielder’s choice of the inning, plating the Yankees fourth run, and the captain finally put the inning to rest when he grounded into a double play.

Bedard almost sailed through the fourth inning, if not for a botched double play. Though I’d call myself a Bedard detractor, the score should have been 3-0 (if not 2-0) when he left the game. The second inning misplays proved costly. Bedard wasn’t great, but he was better than his four run line may have suggested.

Brad Boxberger came on in relief and was insanely good. Boxberger did what Bedard wasn’t able to, stabilizing things throughout his two innings of work. He allowed Alfonso Soriano and Solarte to reach on a pair of fifth inning walks, though he appeared to be pitching around the two in order to get to Kelly Johnson, who hit an inning ending soft popper to right. Boxberger impressively induced soft contact throughout his 30 pitch (17 strikes) outing. He was optioned back to Triple-A Durham following the game. Joe Maddon acknowledged he was a big reason the Rays won Friday night. I can’t wait to see Boxberger get recalled in the future.

The Rays were down until the seventh inning when they started to put the clampdown on the Yankees. Overall, Tampa Bay tagged the Evil Empire for 11 runs on 15 hits, including two James Loney and Ryan Hanigan doubles, and a Sean Rodriguez two-run homer in the eighth. Loney ended his night by going 2-4, with four runs batted in. Wil Myers was Myers was 3-4 in RISP situations. Could he be coming around?

Tampa Bay scored only 14 runs total in their previous three series’. They’ve come back to score 13 runs in their last two games, while going 4-for-8 wRISP last night, and scoring all 11 of their runs Friday night with two-outs. TheRays went 42 innings without a lead until James Loney doubled home two runs in the seventh.

Chris Archer will face off against Ivan Nova Saturday, when the Rays take on the Yankees in the third game of their current four game set. Nova has been knocked around a bit this season, though the Rays, historically, have had a hard time with the 27 year-old RHP. You can read about the match-up, and so much more, in our series preview.

With the Rays optioning Brad Boxberger back to Triple-A, left-handed reliever CJ JRiefenhauser, whose 12-letter last name ties Jason Isringhausen for longest in club history, has been called up. Of note, Riefenhauser was the only relief pitcher selected to Baseball America’s 2013 minor league all-star team.